


Empathy

by CastConfringo



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Daddy Issues, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Family Issues, Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastConfringo/pseuds/CastConfringo
Summary: I DO NOT OWN THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BUT CATLYN AND DELILAH JONES.On the twelfth hour of the first day of October in 1989, forty-three women gave birth to forty-three children at the exact same time. The extraordinary thing about these births is that none of the women were pregnant when the day began. Billionaire inventor Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of the children as possible. He got eight of them.Number Eight - "Catlyn". Born in Southern Alabama to a Ms Delilah Jones. Her mother was a drug addict and a drunk, her habits passed on to the poor baby who went through withdrawal shortly after her birth. Miraculously, the infant survived, and was put into the adoption system. Reginald Hargreeves adopted the child as soon as he heard of her. Catlyn along with her seven other siblings grow up under the careful scrutiny of their adoptive father as young super heroes destined to save the world - sort of.





	1. One

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October in 1989, forty-three women gave birth to forty-three children at the exact same time. The extraordinary thing about these births is that none of the women were pregnant when the day began. Millionaire inventor Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of the children as possible. He got eight of them. This story follows the life of Number Eight - Catlyn, or "The Empath". Her ability is, well, feeling. That's why she's lower than even Vanya in the ranking. 

She was always incredibly close to one brother in particular: Number Six - Ben, or "The Horror". Throughout their childhood they were best friends, perhaps because she's the only one who knew how he felt after using his abilities. Consequently, she was close with Number Four - Klaus or "The Seance", Ben's favorite brother. Her other best friend: Number Five - The Boy. No one but her knew just how much it bothered him that he never received a name. The three of them were inseparable. There were times they'd sneak out of their rooms at night and play around the house. On more than one occasion Pogo found them out of bed and gently take them back. 

Ben's death was the hardest on her. Mr Hargreeves believed that her grief is what stunted her physical growth at the age of eighteen. She pushed everyone away - first Five went missing, then she lost the only other friend she truly had. In her mind, there was no one there for her anymore. After a few years, it was just her and Luther left in the house. Then their dad sent him to the moon. The two of them were never very close, but it was always better than being alone.


	2. Two

Catlyn lies in her bed, remembering old missions with her siblings. Her favorite was when they stopped a bank heist. They always had so much fun together. When they were little it was all a game to them.

~~  
She crouched behind a pillar, watching as Allison approached one of the armed robbers. From her vantage point she couldn't hear what her sister was saying, but she knew she was spreading a rumor. That was the plan, after all. She feels around the robbers emotions, trying to figure out just how many of them there were as the lead robber shot his friend in the foot.

"How many are there?" Ben asked, crawling up beside her. She could sense his fear - he was hoping he wouldn't have to intervene. 

"All the ones we see out here," she paused and Ben relaxed, not realizing she wasn't finished. "And there's more in the safe." His anxiety flared up again - he knew what that meant. They turned back to the scene as it unfolded. Luther fell through the skylight and threw a man through the front windows. Outside, the crowd gathered screamed. The only robber in the lobby left standing had climbed up onto the desk, pointing a handgun at the other kids in front of him.

"Stay back, you freaks!" He was yelling at them, more scared than they were. It must have been hard for his tiny mind to wrap around what was happening in front of him.

"Careful up there," Luther warned as Catlyn and Ben crept out from their hiding place.

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to get hurt!" Allison chimed in, smiling. They enjoyed tormenting them - they were kids, after all. Five appeared behind the guy, sitting cross-legged on the counter.

"Or what?" He taunted with a cheeky grin. The man shot multiple rounds but missed, because Five had already disappeared. While the robber was distracted, Catlyn rushed forward to switch the handgun with a stapler. Five reappears behind him again, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. The guy points the stapler at his chest, wasting staples before realizing he wasn't holding his gun.

"So scary!" Catlyn called, giggling. Five smirked at her, then at the guy.

"That's one bad-ass stapler!" He said, pretending to be impressed before shoving the stapler into the man's forehead. Then the only things left to take care of were the other robbers in the vault and the hostages. All seven of them gathered around the door leading to the back area, waiting for Ben to do his thing. 

"I didn't sign up for this," he grumbled, swayed by their pestering him. Behind the frosted glass, the kids watched a huge monster rip men apart. Catlyn was unnerved almost immediately - it was horrible feeling the emotions of the dying. She turned away and set to getting the hostages up, rushing them outside. Ben emerged from the room, covered head to toe in blood. "Can we go home now?"  
~~

The sound of footsteps outside her door pulls her out of her memories, reminding her that the funeral's today. She takes a deep breath to prepare herself for the reaction of her siblings - they haven't seen each other in thirteen years. Not even Luther knows she still hasn't physically aged in the past four years. When she opens her bedroom door, the hallway's empty. She closes her eyes for a moment, relishing in the momentary quiet. Her socks soften the sound of her footfalls as she makes her way to the living room, pausing just outside the door. Does she really want to do this?

"Catlyn?" Now she has to go inside. Allison's the first to come to her, pulling her into a hug. "You... haven't changed." She holds Catlyn out at arms length, examining her. 

"I don't know," she answers a question that was never even asked aloud - she could see it in her sister's eyes. "Dad always said it was the grief." Her sad eyes travel around the room, over her brothers. No sign of Vanya. Klaus coughs, quietly muttering. The only thing she hears is Ben's name - that's all she needs to hear to realize what's happening.

"He's sorry-" Klaus starts, but she holds up a hand to stop him. She doesn't want to hear it. "It's just because-" he stops again, cut off by her trembling lip.

"I'm not even going to ask what just happened there," Diego says, twirling a knife in his hands. He's never cared much for feeling. 

"Well I for one am happy to see my li- my sister." Luther corrects himself before he can finish saying 'little'. He keeps forgetting they're the same age. She doesn't blame him - she knows it's easy to forget when she looks the same she did the last time they saw her. Her eyes travel to the portrait of Five hanging over the fireplace.

"Dad always did think he'd come back," she comments, still feeling like those eyes followed her every move. 

"I used to leave the lights on so he could find us if he came home." Everyone but Catlyn jumps a little when Vanya speaks, hugging herself in the doorway. "Made him snacks in case he was hungry."

"You were afraid he'd get scared if he came home and the house was dark," Catlyn finishes, turning to face her.

"I always hated you reading our thoughts that," Diego grumbles, standing from the couch. He doesn't want Vanya here, not after what she did to them.

"It's not reading your thoughts, it's sensing emotions," Catlyn responds, affected by his irritability. Outside, there's a clap of thunder strong enough to shake the building. They all start, not expecting the loud noise to interrupt their sudden silence. Klaus is no doubt thinking about if the weather will be too bad to go out and get some more drugs. While he isn't looking, she crosses the room to pull a cigarette out of the pocket of his jacket and lights it on one of the candles flickering on the coffee table.

"Guys, put those out. You know dad didn't allow smoking in here." Luther scolds. 

"I don't see him coming to yell at us for it," She shoots back, taking a long drag. The ash falls to the carpet after she taps the end of the cigarette. Another thunderclap makes the foundation tremble - that's when they notice the blue light flooding in through the windows leading to the courtyard.


	3. Three

The seven remaining Hargreeves children rush outside, squinting up at the swirling blue mass hovering about them. In the center is the image of... an old man? Catlyn's the only one to notice the man - the others are too focused on figuring out what this thing is.

"It looks like some sort of temporal anomaly," Luther offers, yelling to be heard. "Or a mini black hole, one of the two!"

"That's a pretty big difference, Paul Bunyan!" Diego shouts back, earning himself a glare. The image starts to shift, like the picture's going back in time.

"Out of the way!" Klaus pushes through them, spraying a fire extinguisher at the anomaly. When that doesn't work, he throws it. 

"What was that supposed to do?" Allison demands as he scurries back to them.

"I don't know!" He answers, scared out of his mind. 

"Everyone get behind me!" Luther orders as the anomaly grows in size. Diego pushes up beside him, acting like a macho man.

"Yeah, get behind us!" Catlyn rolls her eyes - she can sense their terror. The image ripples and a body falls out, hitting the ground. As soon as it appeared, the anomaly disappears. She swears her heart stops pumping when she really sees the boy pushing himself off the ground. The boy looks at her as she approaches, panting. He's relieved to see her walking towards him. That is, until she slaps him. 

"You son of a bitch! Did you have any idea how worried we were about you? You've been gone for seventeen years and you suddenly decide to show up?" Just for good measure, she slaps him again. "I always knew you were a selfish bastard, but I never saw just how bad you were." She whirls around and storms inside, shoving everyone out of her way. No one can see her tears, she won't let them. They can't see just how much she's missed her brother with no name.

She calms down enough to rejoin everyone in the kitchen to hear what excuse he has to give them. Klaus sits on the table, everyone else gathered around his end, watching Five pop to and from the cabinets and the table as he makes himself a snack. Peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, just like he used to.

"I definitely haven't missed that," Luther grumbles, already irritated. Only Five looks up when Catlyn silently appears, just then noticing what Klaus has on. 

"Nice dress," Five comments on Klaus wearing Allison's skirt.

"Oh, danke," he thanks him, tugging at the end of it.

"Wait, how did you get back?" Vanya asks Five. He doesn't look up from his task as he spreads peanut butter over the slices of bread. 

"In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time," he explains, shaking marshmallows out of the bag.

"That makes no sense," Diego speaks up from his seat. 

"Well, it would if you were smarter," Five calmly retorts as he puts the second slice of bread over the other. Diego stands up, ready to fight, but Luther holds him back. Catlyn snickers, covering her mouth with her hand. Five smiles gently at her, hoping she's forgiven him already, but she looks away. Clearly, she isn't ready to get over his disappearing act. He takes a bite of his sandwich to hide his disappointment. It works on everyone except her.

"Someone come get me when it's time for the funeral." She doesn't wait for a response, simply walks away and heads upstairs to her room. He watches her go, wanting to go after her but knowing that he can't. Being best friends for thirteen years teaches someone that kind of thing.


	4. Four

Catlyn opens the door for Vanya without looking away from the rain outside. Her sister tentatively steps inside, still as shy as ever.

"I'm fine," she tells her, finally turning away from the window. "I'll be right down." After Vanya leaves she wipes away a tear with her sleeve. She was never close with Catlyn, but she's the only one who still considers her family. It would be naive to think she wasn't angry about the book, she knows. She's just grateful she still has at least one sibling who still cares. 

Upstairs, Catlyn slides on a pair of black ankle boots, zipping up the sides. An umbrella leans against her armoire and she grabs it as she passes by. Everyone's out in the courtyard waiting for her. Five's standing beside Klaus, solemnly watching her approach. She pointedly stands on the opposite side of their brother, not looking at them. Klaus takes a long drag from his cigarette, trying to keep his high. Luther clears his throat and starts the ceremony by taking the lid off of the urn and pours out the ashes. What's left of their adoptive father falls in a clump on the wet ground.

"Probably would have been better with some wind," Luther comments, awkwardly putting the urn down.

"Would anyone like to speak?" Pogo asks. When no one says anything, he gives his own little eulogy. Diego scoffs at the end.

"He was a terrible man," he points out. Luther bristles, his anger washing over Catlyn like a tidal wave.

"You should stop talking," he warns Diego, who, of course, keeps talking. Finally he snaps, swinging at his brother. 

"Here we go," Catlyn sighs, stepping back to watch. The both of them go after each other, overly hostile. 

"Boys, stop this!" Pogo attempts to stop them, but they ignore him. They crash into Ben's statue, knocking it over.

"No!" She cries, lunging. Five grabs her by the arms and holds her back. The statue falls and she watches in horror as it breaks on the ground.

"There goes Ben's statue," Allison sighs. Catlyn falls to her knees, her breathing picking up. Five tries to pull her up but she fights against him, ignoring Diego throwing a knife. She doesn't care that Luther's hurt, she doesn't care that she could have gotten injured. The only thing she's focused on is the statue. Ben's statue.

"Look at what you did!" She screams at the two men, breaking free. "You asinine imbeciles! That was the only thing left of him! It was... it..." Her voice breaks and she starts sobbing, stumbling to the broken statue. She puts her hands on the likeness, blubbering out apologies for something she didn't even do.

"Nice job, assholes." Allison shakes her head and turns, walking inside with Vanya. Luther follows to patch up his bleeding arm, Pogo leading Grace inside. Klaus extinguishes his cigarette in the pile of ashes, leaving Five and Catlyn alone outside. Five watches helplessly as she trembles, the sobs wracking her body. He just holds the umbrella up to keep them dry as the rain picks up.

"Catlyn," he murmurs after letting her cry for a few moments. "Catlyn, hey. Let's go get some coffee, okay? Let's go calm down. Come on." She lets him pull her up and walk her inside. He takes her up to her room and waits out in the hallway for her to change into dry clothes. It takes her longer than it normally would, despite her only changing into a t-shirt and leggings. Her hands tremble so badly she can hardly even use them.

When she emerges from her room he takes her out to the car waiting in the alleyway beside the house. She stares numbly out the window as the city passes. It doesn't even occur to her to try to figure out where they're going. She doesn't bother to ask what Five's thinking so deeply about. All she does is stare.


	5. Five

Five pulls into the parking lot of Griddy's Doughnuts, parking the car by the door. In the passenger seat beside him, Catlyn's still gazing out the window without an expression. This scares him - with all of the emotions she's always feeling, she should have some sort of expression on her face.

"Catlyn," he murmurs to pull her out of her trance-like state. She blinks, slowly turning her head to look at him. His uneasiness increases at her blank stare. "We're here." Even her blinking is sloth-like as she looks out the windshield. Without saying anything, she starts to unbuckle her seat belt. By the time she's slipping it off he's out of the car and opening her door. She lets him help her out of the car, something she'd never let him do in her normal state of mind. 

"Okay," she finally says, halfway to the front door. Inside, a trucker sits on a stool at the counter, the only employee working an older woman wearing a name tag that says "Agnes". Five takes a seat one stool away from the man, Catlyn pulling herself up on his left to avoid sitting next to the stranger. Even the slightest tap of bare skin would show her everything the man's thinking about at that very moment. The waitress comes over with a notepad to take their orders. She takes the trucker's first, looking disdainfully at the two "teens".

"I'll have a chocolate eclair," he orders, and she scribbles it down. 

"Can I get the kids some milk or something?" She asks, seeing them as younger than they truly are. Five smirks at the elderly woman sarcastically.

"The kids want coffee. Black." For a moment, she stands silently in shock. He grins at her and she turns to make their orders. Catlyn stares down at her hands, linked together in front of her. All the years she spent talking to that statue like he could really hear her, and it was destroyed within seconds. She decides right then she hates the two for breaking it - it was the only friend she had when she was alone in the big house.

"It's going to be okay, Catlyn," Five assures her, but she doesn't believe him. Doesn't he know it's no use trying to lie to her? She can feel he doesn't believe it. Something's wrong and he isn't telling her what. When she doesn't respond he sighs, glancing at the trucker. "I don't remember this place being such a shithole. Used to sneak out and come here with my siblings when we were younger, eat donuts until we threw up. Good old days, huh?" The man's confusion crashes over her suddenly, startling her out of her funk. She misses what he says, but now Five sees the difference in her demeanor.

"Two coffees," the woman says quietly, setting the mugs down in front of them. Catlyn thanks her, pulling the warm ceramic closer to her suddenly cold body. Something bad was going to happen soon, she could feel it. The trucker tells the woman he'll pay for them, probably thinking they don't have money of their own to pay for the drinks. Five thanks the man, mildly surprised by the random act of kindness. The man grunts in response, taking his jacket from the stool and leaving. For a few moments, the diner is silent as they both sip their coffee. The waitress disappeared after the man paid in cash, no doubt to get change for the truck driver.

"Five, something doesn't feel right," Catlyn finally speaks up, anxiety creeping over her like a cold finger trailing up her spine. He looks at her, not catching on. He's forgotten she can sense danger before it happens - it's been too long since they'd last seen each other. The chime over the door rings, signalling the arrival of a group of men carrying large guns. Five's hidden anxiety mingles with hers as he examines the reflection of the men in the shining metal of the bell on the counter.

"Huh. I thought I'd have longer until they found me," he comments, his outwardly calm demeanor completely hiding his nerves from everyone but Catlyn. She tries her best not to look at the men, taking cues from her brother.

"Just come with us willingly," one of the men says, his gun raised and pointed at the boy. "I don't want to have to kill a kid, don't want to go home with that on my conscience." She gives Five a warning look as he inconspicuously lifts the knife off of the napkin placed in front of him. He ignores it, mouthing "hide" to her.

"I wouldn't worry about that," he says aloud, twirling the knife once between his fingers. "You won't be going home." With a flash of blue light he's gone from the stool, reappearing behind the man who had spoken. 

"Five-" she starts, but she notices he's teleported onto his back. The knife sinks into the man's neck, so suddenly she's almost relieved she doesn't have to feel his dying fear. Simultaneously the other men start firing their guns at the place her brother just disappeared from. She throws herself off of the stool, rolling under a nearby table and curling into a ball. The lights start flickering after one shoots at the ceiling. Five appears again, lying sideways over two tables pushed together.

"Hey assholes!" He calls to get their attention, once again popping out of the way less than a second before the men start firing. It takes them several moments to realize they're firing at empty space. A knock on the door outside grabs their attention - it's Five, ironically half-saluting to the man closest to him before popping out of existence just in time to evade the shower of bullets shattering the glass. Catlyn watches in horror as Five pops back in and steps on a mop, snapping off the end and shoving the sharp edge into the side of another of the attackers. She can barely keep up as he goes from him to behind another man, strangling him with something she can't see. He flings a plate at one of the remaining men to stall for time to utilize a pencil he just found and shoves it into one of their eyes. The blood spatter barely misses her and she scoots back, overwhelmed by all the fear and anger flowing off of everyone else. What in the hell happened to him while he was gone to make him this deadly?

He leaps onto the counter and disappears again, reappearing to kill the last man remaining by snapping his neck. The sudden silence is somehow more off-putting than the noise of the guns firing. Catlyn stays silent, watching her brother wildly looking for her. Finally he sees her under the table and approaches, stopping in his tracks when she backs away from him in terror.

"Catlyn," he pleads, his voice cracking as his heart breaks. It isn't until then that he realizes just how horrible it must have been for her to witness what just went down. "I didn't want you to see that." This time when he steps towards her she doesn't back away, which encourages him. What he doesn't realize is her back is already pressed against a booth and she can't get farther away without standing up. Yet she lets him pull her up and out to the car, driving away quickly. They both know that as soon as the gunshots are reported the police will be on their way, and neither of them can be at the crime scene when they get there.


	6. Six

Diego finishes questioning the employee, having raced to the diner after hearing the dispatch on the radio. He wasn't a cop, but he knew the frequency he needed to listen to so he could still fight crime without wearing the stupid uniforms they used to have to wear for the Academy. The shaken old woman had told him everything he needed to know, and a little extra. Some guy came in with his two kids, whom she described as odd. The girl wouldn't look at anyone when she first came in and the boy ordered both of them black coffee. The guy payed for them after eating his chocolate eclair and when she went to get him change she saw him pulling out of the parking lot in his tow truck. That was when she heard the gunshots - her first instinct was to hide under the desk in the office. When she came out finally the diner was empty, everything destroyed. After some more pressing from Diego, she recalled the boy had called the girl "Catlyn". He hadn't needed to hear anything more after that.

In his car, he sits and stares blankly out the windshield. Behind him in the backseat, his brother Klaus was snoring loudly. He scoffs, thinking nothing of how quickly the junkie had fallen asleep. The only thing he does is throw the car into gear, speeding off towards the house in the hopes he'll find the younger - well, other - siblings. It still amazes him how young they appear, but then again, he hasn't had much time to get used to it yet.

Catlyn clutches onto Five's sleeve as they ascend the stairs of an apartment building, trying her best to ignore all of the emotions surrounding her. She was already getting a migraine, and the multitude of people around definitely wasn't helping. They stop in front of a white door where he knocks. To her surprise, Vanya opens it. He pushes right past her, dragging Catlyn along. Confused, Vanya closes the door, following them to the living room.

"What-" she stumbles over words, struggling to comprehend the situation already. Catlyn exchanges an alarmed look with her sister, sensing his determination. Neither of them have any clue what he's so obviously set on. 

"Coffee?" Five requests, and she nods. They're all silent as Vanya brews the beverage for them, everyone staring at the ground.

"Is- is that blood?" She finally stammers out, spotting the crimson stain on the collar of his uniform. "I'll go get the first aid kit."

"I'm fine," he waves her off, taking the warm mug she hands him. The air is thick enough to make it hard for Catlyn to breathe as they wait for her to return with the kit. It doesn't take long for her to clean them up. Five drinks the hot drink quickly, holding up the mug. "Do you have anything stronger?"

"Y-yeah," Vanya stutters, retrieving a bottle of liquor and glasses. Catlyn denies the drink, choosing instead to keep her hands wrapped around the rapidly cooling coffee. Once again they're silent, the only sound being Five's drinking. "Why are you guys here?"

"I need your help," he says simply, completely calm. Neither girl misses the wording - it simply confuses them even further. "The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it."


End file.
